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Blackthorne Character History
The man that would come to be known as "Blackthorne" was born in Greyspire, the capitol city of Gesnor, in the year 465. Sigmund and Una Draith (whose ancestry traces back to Vengaard) named their first child Torrin. Years later they would have two more boys (Gustave and Simon) and a girl (Dahlia). Sigmund owned a tavern called “The Fallen Rock.” Both he and Una spent every day and night working the Tavern. He tended bar while she was the head serving girl, or tavern wench. The "The Fallen Rock" was among the last of the taverns any noble or official would choose to visit. The clientele were a handful of Greyspire's less than desirable men and women. This was the environment that Torrin and his siblings grew up in. As soon as they could walk, talk, and perform the mundane tasks, they were put to work. Several years of his life passed this way; drudgery sprinkled with the occasional fight or interesting tale. This life and the tales he heard taught Torrin that one should always be looking out for one's self, first and foremost. That philosophy would remain with him long into his life. When he reached the age he thought he could strike out on his own, Torrin abandoned his family, taking a portion of the family savings to survive. He did not consider nor did he care how severely this affected his family. Though he has never bothered to check, his family survived the loss and eventually struggled back to stability. Seeking out his fortune, Torrin signed on with a group of adventurers as one of their porters. The group was leaving on a quest to find an ancient magikal talisman called The Eye of Creer. They headed out for Gallura. Their progress was good until the day they were overtaken in the Orange Duchy of Quivera by a large group of Orcs under the employ of Duke Kagrug. The Orc troops fell on the adventurers making quick work of them. Seeing the futility of fighting back, Torrin dirked the nearest adventurer to him. Olaf Larsson died with a shocked expression, staring into Torrin's eyes. Torrin took Olaf's mace and shield and dispatched the rest of the porters in an attempt to depart. The Orcs were not successful in killing the entire party, but they did overtake Torrin. After they captured him, the only Orc who could speak Xarian questioned Torrin. Expecting to die, Torrin was tense and shouted adversarial threats to the Orcs. Knowing they would smash him later, the Orcs wanted to toy with him. They held back in a circle around Torrin while questioning him. They could not understand why he turned against his fellow humans. His reasoning took some time to translate to the Orcs. When they began to grasp his theory of being concerned only for one’s self, the Orc patrol began laughing in amusement. The leader barked out an Orcish command to the others and they all turned and marched away. And once again, looking out for himself served Torrin best. From Quivera, Torrin traveled to DeMekrium with a caravan, hired on as a guard. In DeMekrium there was little work to be had for a foreigner. Shortly after his arrival, Torrin was involved in a minor skirmish outside a DeMekrian tavern. It seemed the local authority was not satisfied with Torrin's flippant remark when asked for the traveling papers that he did not possess. The skirmish was short. Taking no chances, Torrin dirked the guard through his ribs, in front of a small crowd of DeMekrians that proceeded to raise the alarm. Torrin fled from the scene, and later that evening encountered some of the local thieves. It seemed that they were anti-establishment and would help Torrin depart DeMekrium for a small service. In an effort to remain anonymous, they wished to hire him to murder some upper class noble. They would pay him and provide transport from DeMekrium. Torrin took the job, murdered the noble (whose name he never bothered to learn) and indeed was given transportation out of DeMekrium. The next several months were spent performing mercenary tasks. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a group, they consisted of kidnapping, sacking villages, defending towns, theft, and murder to name a few. Eventually Torrin ended up Icara, where he spent five years working as a mercenary for the Icaran Army. This small mercenary troop allowed Icara to perform several incursions into neighboring countries of Karandia and Chalter Medrium to enact truly diabolical schemes that neither could prove were Icara's doing. Over these five years, Torrin became the leader of the small mercenary group. His mission successes helped build his reputation as a mercenary. His years of service to Icara came to an end in 485 when the mercenary group was once again sent in to Chalter Medrium. The group was en route to Nasus Glen, a northern city in the kingdom. Along the road, they encountered a small contingent of the Chalter Medrium Army. The soldiers attacked and defeated the mercenary group. Torrin and three others were captured. The soldiers were transporting the captives to Grath when Torrin managed to escape, leaving the other three to their own fate. He fled from this last scene, realizing that once again, he had made his own fortune by looking out for himself. Torrin traveled southwest and unknowingly crossed the border into Doro Y'Edhel. This area of Doro Y'Edhel was also close to the border of Uragoth. Torrin's path crossed that of an Ogre war party. Seeing the large number of Ogres, Torrin evaded them and hid. The Ogres seemed to take up a position in the nearby woods and wait for something. In order to depart from his concealment, Torrin would surely attract the Ogres attention. So he waited along with the Ogres. A few hours later a group of Elves passed through the area. The Ogres ambushed the Elves. Something inside Torrin couldn't sit by and watch, so he jumped in to fight with the Elves against the Ogres. During the fight, an Ogre slashed Torrin across the face with a devastating sword blow. When he awoke, the Elves were tending to his wounds, including the left eye he lost as a result of the Ogre's attack. The Elves thanked him for his help and informed him that they were escorting the Elven “King.” The “King” asked him to accompany them for a short time. They traveled to Grath to meet with King Frederick II of Chalter Medrium. Begrudging, Torrin accepted, inwardly cursing himself. He felt he had betrayed himself, not following his philosophy: look out for yourself. This momentary lapse had cost him his eye and was taking him back into the country he had just fled. After this meeting, Torrin journeyed with the Elves back to Doro Y'Edhel. The Elves related the story of the Ogre ambush to the Queen. On the recommendation of the “King,” Torrin was knighted by the Elven Queen, Thielora Regalia, into the Order of the Black Rose and since he was not an elf, he was given the name “Blackthorne” for his effort in saving the “King.” Blackthorne spent several months in Doro Y'Edhel before returning to his homeland of Gesnor in November of 486. Torrin established contacts with the questionable mercenaries of Greyspire. In December he learned of the immanent overthrow of the Pick Council when he was asked to participate in the coup. The ambitious Volek had been assembling troops that were loyal to him and his idea of revolution. He was, however, undermanned for such an ambitious process. Merely killing the Pick Council would be child's play; they were all old men. Keeping the power after the coup would be the difficult part. So Volek hired on mercenary troops sympathetic to the cause of coin in their purse. One such mercenary was Blackthorne. The coup took place in January 487. Blackthorne was side by side with the Eagle Elite as they entered the Pick Council chamber and took an active hand in slaying the Council members present. Blackthorne killed Councilman Jürgen Karls. During the month following the coup, Volek secretly ordered his Eagle Elite to kill all the participants of the coup who were not the hand picked members of his force. Blackthorne saw some of the other mercenaries killed one night in a tavern by poorly masked members of the Eagle Elite. The Elite apparently did not realize that Blackthorne was there, seated at another table. After killing the three other mercenaries, the Elite quickly fled the scene. Knowing that the situation would only get worse for him, Blackthorne left Gesnor. The following months were spent bounty hunting, based out of the “Broken Oak” Inn in Palrim. Again, his reputation as a successful and effective mercenary kept Blackthorne employed. One of the jobs he took was to kidnap a lower rank Priest of the House Anar in Dakkor. This job was unsuccessful due to the fact that minutes before Blackthorne arrived, the priest was kidnapped by an elf O’Hara whose face he would never forget. Blackthorne saw him escaping the scene. This angered Torrin, who vowed revenge on the elf for costing him a job, money, and a mark on his reputation. Several jobs later, he had happy clients and a sum of coins. Blackthorne became tired of this life in Palrim and left after hearing rumors of another revolution approaching. It seemed that the locals in Hartwig were dissatisfied with their governing body. In March of 488, Blackthorne signed on to the revolution's side for a fee and participated in his second coup. This time, Blackthorne had little concern of being killed by the new government, but, rather than take any unnecessary chances, he moved on. After having decided to travel east, Blackthorne signed on to a mercenary troop fighting with Rynith against Akkoria. It was during this skirmish that Blackthorne encountered the elf for the second time. It seemed that the elf had joined the cause of Akkoria. Blackthorne fought his way through the lines to reach the elf. The two engaged in swordplay and words. Blackthorne introduced himself as “Torrin Draith, also called Blackthorne.” The elf seemed eager to fight and treated the whole scene as if it were a fun game. Laughing, he introduced himself as “Danvic, a half-elf” O’Hara. They fought for a long time. Blackthorne realized that although the half-elf seemed to make a jest or game out of everything, he was a skilled swordsman and the fight would not be easy. Even so, Blackthorne was certain he was a better swordsman. The two ignored direct orders from their superiors so they could continue their fight. As the fight grew more intense, a wave of men in battle crashed through where they were fighting, cutting them off from each other. Torrin promised himself and swore that he would one day find the half-elf and kill him. In April of 489, Blackthorne took a bounty, hunting down a mute girl for a Karandian Duke. The girl was simple to track down. Every town had a merchant or two that was happy to tell Blackthorne exactly when they had seen the “cute girl what could not speak. Poor thing. And yes, I believe she was headed to the next town.” When he was close to regaining the girl, his travel was interrupted by his third encounter with Danvic. He immediately set upon Danvic, intending to see him dead in moments. To his credit, Danvic had greatly improved his sword skills since last they met and the fight ended in a draw. Danvic and Blackthorne called a truce for the time being and parted ways, both having more pressing business to attend. With little effort, Blackthorne found the mute girl. Acquiring her was slightly more difficult. It seemed that she had befriended a large contingent of travelers who were determined to see that this bounty hunter (whom they had heard nothing good about) would not harm her cute features. The task seemed daunting until he met Pex Ryan, a thief and assassin of considerable skill. The two set to the task of apprehending the mute girl. In time they had convinced the gathering of protective travelers that they had no intention of harming the girl, only escorting her home. Since she could not speak, she could not tell her protectors otherwise, and they begrudgingly allowed Blackthorne and Pex to leave with the girl. For his troubles, Blackthorne split the bounty with Pex, who left to travel a different path. In the spring of 491 Torrin was hired again by Icara. This time his job was to travel with delegates to a peace treaty over the Hagar Hills with Karandia. The peace talks were proceeding relatively well until the Mage-Delegate Hawley from Icara went mad, attacking all the members present. Blackthorne joined forces with others, including a young mage named Tarrik Brodt, to kill the mad Icaran Delegate. After this, Blackthorne grew weary of western Xaria and began to look for work that took him east. He spent a few years participating in mercenary skirmishes and odd jobs. Torrin was training a group of mercenaries in a western Halgudar town when he was approached by a messenger. The man handed Torrin a letter drafted by his old ally, Pex. It seemed that the Rynith Guard was in sad shape, comprised of thieves, criminals and degenerates that had no skill or discipline. Rynith was looking for a man to command their elite guard and “whip them into shape.” Blackthorne was not able to say no to offer, or the pay. He bid the group he was training farewell and departed with the messenger, only minutes after reading the letter. It seemed that Pex had acquired himself a lofty position in Rynith politics and put in the good word for his old friend Blackthorne. After speaking to Lord Kyrrath, and explaining how things were to be run, Blackthorne was given the job as Commander of the Rynith Guard. Due to the duplicitous nature of underlings and higher-ups in Rynith Court, Torrin was uncertain how long would remain in his position. However, his stern philosophies towards training men for combat in the military (no doubt instilled from tales of former Icaran soldiers now in the Guard) were working. The Rynith Guard was shaping up to be a better force. And Blackthorne kept his job by being feared. In November of 496, Blackthorne had sent his most trusted unit on an easy detail as a reward for their excellent service in Halgudar. They were given the job of guarding a mountain that the Court Wizards had interest in. Unfortunately, the coming of winter would delay the Wizards' arrival, so the Rynith Guard was to keep the area protected. Two weeks into the detail, word reached Blackthorne that the unit was nearly all killed, and his best man, Captain Roche Gaughen had retrieved Court Wizard Vladimir Souska Parker to assess the situation. As it turned out, the emergency that occurred killed all but the last five of his best men. When Roche returned, Blackthorne began to hear the tale of what had happened. Upon hearing of the mage named Tarrik allied with members of the Order of the Black Rose, Blackthorne decided that an edited version of the report would be the only one to reach any higher officials. He asked Roche to cease the tale and gave him an unprecedented order; they would discuss the rest over a few drinks. The two discussed the rest of the tale in a tavern, out of uniform, so they would be less likely to attract the attention of eavesdroppers. The events were certainly significant, and called for further information. In keeping with orders from the government of Rynith, Blackthorne had spies sent after the group, attempting to learn as much as possible. As information came back to Torrin, he realized that more was afoot than a mere pillaging that upset some Court Wizards of Rynith. In December 497, Torrin spoke to Zadroz Darkwyrd Kriske, the only Court Wizard he trusted. Zadroz also had the abilities of a seer. The Wizard told him of the significance of the quest that Tarrik's party was on, as well as other items that they would need. Torrin had a hard time believing all of this, but eventually took it to be true. What he found out, weighed on Torrin's conscience. Eventually he acted, choosing what he thought to be not only in his best interests, but the best interests of everyone. Knowing that he would be met with adversity in every step, he felt he had to plan his moves very carefully. Torrin asked the five remaining men he knew to be loyal to perform a mission for him. If they were to accept this mission, they would no longer be soldiers in the Rynith Guard, and would become wanted men in Rynith. They would be responsible for the lives of Tarrik and his quest party, and quite possibly the lives of most Xarians. They would protect those who could save the world. Each man agreed, preferring to be a soldier, to fight for their commander, and to fight for something they believed in, not some land that held little regard for anything but itself. Over the next few months, they assembled gear from the armories and quartermasters of the Rynith Guard. As he was the Commander of the Rynith Guard, it was simple enough to arrange for his trusted men to be placed on a duty he knew to be important. Zadroz had discovered through some form of augury, that Tarrik and the quest members would be coming through the Ancient magikal stone arch near the end of June. Captain Roche and the rest of his trusted men were assigned to guard the Arch. As had been predicted, Tarrik and his companions magikally appeared in the Arch and were immediately captured by the men present. Shortly after their capture, Blackthorne arrived to take command of the post. He briefed his team, which also included Zadroz and his new apprentice Daemir Du Ghul O’Hara, of the foretold events. This was the point that their lives would change. For the next day, they would perform their duties and act normally. To keep the prisoners in line and the other Rynith Guards unsuspecting, Blackthorne ordered the Veldron Knight named Cedric Parker to be killed. His men leapt on Cedric at once, killed him and disposed of the body. That night, Blackthorne, Zadroz and other guards tortured and interrogated the prisoners to learn what they could of the quest and the apocalypse that was coming. After learning all he could the next course of action was decided. He sent orders to the Halgudar front to move troops in such a way that would leave a small part of the border unprotected. The following morning, after a short skirmish with a small group of Chaos Warriors Hames, Mark Mensch, Dave Murphy, and Dave Selvadurai, Blackthorne ordered his trusted men to turn on the rest and kill them. With no one left to report the truth of what happened, Blackthorne allowed Tarrik and the rest to escape, gather their belongings and retreat towards the weak point in the Rynith front lines at the Halgudar border. Zadroz, returned to Xain to carry on his duties and deliver and edited report the happenings to the rest of the Court. The men were left at the site near the Arch, while Blackthorne took it upon himself to perform the most treacherous act of the mission. In early July 498, Blackthorne entered the private quarters of the Court Wizard Vladimir Souska, killed four guards and stole a piece of a magikal amulet. This piece was crucial to the success of the mission. Shortly after this time, it became discovered that Blackthorne stole the amulet piece, and betrayed the government and Guard of Rynith from his lofty and trusted position. He had become one of the most wanted men in the country. Blackthorne had months to prepare for this theft, so it was successful. The hard part was be keeping his men and himself safe from discovery while using the resources of Rynith to locate Tarrik. Captain Roche and three others were sent back for reassignment before Blackthorne's treachery was discovered. He took two others (Tara Baugh & Slusser) with him on the road searching for Tarrik. Still possessing a number of resources and contacts from before his time spent in Rynith, Blackthorne located Tarrik in Akkoria. He and his men traveled day and night to Kor Chercen to deliver the piece of the diamond amulet and information to Tarrik. After a brief rest, and a few tales, they parted ways. Blackthorne and his men searched for allies for the quest to save the world from the apocalypse. Throughout this time forces were gathered and Blackthorne helped take the Arch in Chalter Medrium by having his remaining loyal members of the Rynith Guard travel through the Arch to Chalter Medrium and blindside the soldiers there. On September 11th, after the Arch was secure, Roche, Tara, and Xan Groninger left for Halgudar, where Torrin told them he would join them... if he survived the Judgment. Torrin watched as Tarrik and his allies magikally disappeared. Blackthorne and the remaining Rynith Troops guarded the Arch until late that night watching other groups of allies travel the same way Tarrik did. As dusk grew towards black, Mordekai Burnett came running toward the Arch followed by the main enemies of Tarrik and his quest. The battle was furious and Blackthorne's loyal troops defended the Arch while he and the remainder of the allies traveled through to Dominia. The Judgment was surrounded by bizarre events. Torrin and a select group guarded the Arch and surrounding area while Tarrik and the others defended the fate of civilization. The efforts of the group were successful. The day after the Judgment was averted, all present traveled back through the Arch. On September 13th Torrin and the others returned through Arch to Chalter Medrium. Once they all recovered from the magikal travel, Torrin made a deal with Manasseh Parker for unmolested passage through Doro Y'Edhel and departed toward that border to meet his teammates. The team was reunited en route to Chalter Medrium on the 24th, along with Shock Antos. On the 29th they arrived at the Doro Y'Edhel Border. Utilizing the writ gained from Manasseh, the team passed thru Doro Y'Edhel into Quivera. The team crossed the Doro Y'Edhel / Quivera border mid-October. A few days later, they encountered a caravan that was attacked hours before their arrival. It is discovered that the Caravan Master's daughter was kidnapped and most of the guards were slain. The team was hired to retrieve the daughter. After two days, the team returned the daughter to Caravan Master. He was very pleased at the effectiveness of Torrin and the team he offered the job of Caravan Guard to them. After a brief discussion, they accepted, in order to facilitate their passage through the multiple Quiveran Duchies. During the trip, discussion of team's future took place. Together, they concluded that they have become a cohesive fighting unit and should remain together. On November 2nd the caravan reached Port Kurastan. While in the capital, they purchase black bladed weapons and adopt the name “the Ebon Blades.” One week before December, the Ebon Blades left the employ of the caravan and headed further east. For the month of December, the Blades traveled through Hyrm-Chel. During this time, little occurred other than lizard-man attacks. Travel was slow through the swamps. Three days before the New Year, the Ebon Blades entered Halgudar. On New Year’s Day, 500 the team did not travel. Together, they celebrate the New Year, and the success of their past adventures. After arriving at Camp Denali (once Fort Denali) in early February, the Ebon Blades had several problems with the local Halgudar forces. A few of the soldiers recognized Torrin, Roche, and the others. Commander Brighton Eppleston quelled the problems between the Ebon Blades and the troops. The Ebon Blades set up camp outside the perimeter of Camp Denali. The Commander realized both the assets and liabilities of having the Ebon Blades working with him. They were highly skilled (unlike many of his warriors), they knew the enemies tactic and could advise how best to fight them, and most importantly, they were expendable. If they were discovered, then Rynith would spare no forces to obtain them or see them dead. From March of 500 to May 500, the Ebon Blades fought alongside Halgudar in the war against Rynith. During this time, they were sent on many missions that were considered suicidal or too risky for the under-trained troops of Halgudar. Each time they were successful and left no Rynith Soldiers alive to tell the tale. Somehow, during their time at Camp Denali, word of their presence reached the current powers of Rynith. Word was sent to Camp Denali that Fort Meras was experiencing terrible problems. It seemed the Bonewood was returning early in that area. The troops there were not equipped or able to handle the surge of undead and requested help. Commander Brighton sent the Ebon Blades. As it turned out, the fort was abandoned until the Bonewood settled, but the Commander of the forces there believed the Sword of Cymfal was in the area. He charged the Ebon Blades with recovering the sword. Court Wizard Vladimir Souska captured Torrin and Roche. An evil spirit of a former mage, named Morlekai, was infesting the area and affecting the Bonewood. Souska informed the two that Rynith feared the Bonewood could affect their homeland, even Xain itself. Souska then bespelled both Torrin and Roche to aid him in defeating the spirit of Morlekai. That evening, the assembled travelers fought off undead and interrupted the ceremony needed to revive Morlekai. Torrin uncovered the Sword of Cymfal and was later possessed by Morlekai in an attempt to kill Lord Errich Rubeus Kelly (last in a long line of nobles from the area of Rynith). Torrin was rescued by the Ebon Blades and returned to health. The following morning, Rynith troops arrived and informed Torrin and the Ebon Blades, that Morlekai had lifted his bounty on them. During the experience with the Court Wizard Vladimir Souska and the creature known as Morlekai, the Ebon Blades met a woman named Talenin Adams. She was traveling to Nost’Kare for business and inquired about hiring their services. Realizing that their effectiveness in Halgudar was jeopardized by Rynith’s confirmation of their presence, it was time for the Ebon Blades to leave. The only condition to accepting the job escorting Talenin was that they would return to camp Denali to officially end their “service.” The Ebon Blades and Talenin arrived there June 2nd. They met with Commander Brighton, returned the recently recovered Sword of Cymfal, and made their explanations to him regarding their reasons for leaving. Commander Brighton understood and thanked them for their services. The road to Nost’Kare was mostly uneventful. Traveling through southern Rynith was difficult and risky. With knowledge of the Rynith Guard and how they operated, the trip was long, and only few encounters were had. The Ebon Blades escorted Talenin and delivered her to her destination in Draambar on August 5th, 500. With the job completed, the Blades enjoyed a little relaxation in the city of Draambar that lasted for two months. The time spent was interspersed with occasional jobs that kept them in Nost’Kare. With winter close, the Ebon Blades decided to winter in Draambar. Plans for an easy winter changed when Talenin walked into the Gilded Peacock tavern. The Blades had recently made arrangements to winter there and were enjoying a robust evening meal. Talenin wanted the Ebon Blades to act as her escort once again for more trade arrangements for her family. Knowing that she paid well and the job would be an easy one, they gave up their winter arrangements to head with her to Sha’Thraem. November 500: Left w/Xan on other mission? Roche and Tara go to Requiem. October 501: Nightfall May 502: Sign of the Flask. Hired by Lord Errich Rubeus as guards for his diplomatic travels. June 502: Rubeus and the Blades travel to Palrim. Inn of the Two Cats November 502: Akkorian Archery Contest